January will bring us the exhibition First Train/Last Train, an artist initiative by Interference Ensemble. Anna Gruda, Mark Mariash, Tony Massett, and Geoffrey Shea make up Interference Ensemble. First Train/Last Train will consider the history of the gallery site, where a railway once ran through! Large scale video projections, immersive sound, and footage from one of the first films ever screened in a public location will accompany a living archive showcasing the history of the Durham railway through memories told by West Grey residents.  

 

We'll see you Saturday, January 11, 2020, from 1- 3 p.m for the reception of First Train / Last Train featuring MacLean's Ales Inc. and goodies by Durham's own, Lee Thompson.  

 

Artists will be in attendance. 

 

The Interference Ensemble is a collaborative, public arts group centred in the town of Durham, Ontario. Consisting of a rotating number of artists and musicians working together, Interference Ensemble creates multimedia events and exhibitions that explore the way contemporary art can reflect a community. Past projects have included a marching band performing original music in a parade, large interactive video installations in the arena, and performances in front of projection screens setup on a rural sideroad.

 

Anna Gruda was a pioneer in the electronic arts movement in the early 1980s in Toronto and curated a major exhibition held at the Centre International de Recherche in Chartreuse de Villeneuve-Les-Avignon. She has contributed to the lively art scene in Durham as an artist, curator, and arts educator. Anna has been dedicated to arts education within the Waldorf school movement as an elementary and high school teacher in both Durham and Toronto.

 

Mark Mariash is a drummer and music producer in Durham. He divides his time between the recording studio and international concert tours. Mark has worked with Royal Wood, Ron Sexsmith, Sarah Slean, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Molly Johnson, the late Jeff Healey, Morgan Davis, The Wailin Jennies and Buffy Saint Marie (for “Power In The Blood” which was the 2015 Polaris prize and Juno winner). He co-produced “Tales From the Blue Lounge,” a jazz album with Richard Underhill which garnered a Juno for Best Contemporary Jazz Album Of The Year (2002).

 

Tony Massett is a visual/media artist in Durham. He has taught sculpture and drawing at Queens University and Sheridan College, and in the art education program at the Royal Ontario Museum. He was the curator at the Durham Art Gallery for five years in the early 2000's, where he initiated many community outreach exhibitions, including video installations in supermarkets, sculptures in the Saugeen River, and exhibitions in the lunch room of the Durham Furniture Factory. Tony is one of the founders of the Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film and the Interference Ensemble. 

 

Geoffrey Shea is a video artist and elected municipal Councillor in Durham. His own artwork is intensely personal and poetic and has been exhibited internationally. He has helped initiate numerous community-building cultural projects including founding Inter/Access Media Arts in Toronto as well as the Interference Ensemble, and co-directing the Common Pulse Disability Arts Festival. Geoffrey teaches at OCAD University.